The present invention relates to microsatellites which can fit, in stowed state, into the volume of what is known as “Auxiliary Payload”, as defined by most of the currently available launchers. Today the main obstacle to the microsatellites market is the cost of launch and its availability. A dedicated launch may cost much more than the microsatellite itself and will cause the mission to be non-cost effective. In fact it is well known in the microsatellites industry that the access to space, i.e. the launch availability and cost are the main obstacles to the industry. On the other hand, satellites that are designed today as auxiliary payloads are very small in order to fit into the envelope requirements of “Auxiliary payload” housing space (also referred to as permitted volume), and eventually have poor performances (low power source capacity, small area antennas) directly as a result of the auxiliary payload housing space dimensions that limit the available area of solar cell panels and transmit/receive antennas. This causes the mission of micro satellites to be ineffective.
These satellites are usually using rigid solar cells which need a stiff and rigid substrate or sub-structure. The substrate might be the satellite structure itself and the cells are mounted directly to the body of the satellite. This method limits the area which may be used for accommodating the solar cells and eventually the amount of electrical power that can be obtained. It also yields to a poor thermal control of the satellite by limiting the heat radiating surfaces available. The limited power will limit the satellite performance, and especially the output power for missions which need high energy output like communication. The thermal control regime, when using body mounted solar panels on its side will reduce the amount of heat dissipated from the satellite, and inherently will reduce the applicability for high energy missions like communication. The use of rigid deployed solar wings is a “weight consumer”. The weight is another limited resource for such small satellites. In addition deployed solar wings require additional volume, and are reducing the limited available volume for the satellite itself.
Another limiting factor for such “auxiliary Payload” microsatellites is the size and amount of antennas used. In case of non-deployment antennas only limited number of them can be used, and usually on the Nadir facing panel. The size of the antennas in a non-deployment case is also severely limited and thus limiting the throughput of the satellite measured in EIRP which is the combination of the transmitting power and the antenna gain, dependent on its diameter.